Poker is a game of skill, and every decision you make is about maximizing your Expected Value or EV for short. The term “EV” will undoubtedly be used throughout this article and you will be seen in two ways. A player can have +EV, which is positive Expected Value or – EV, that is negative Expected Value. Poker is not gambling and the following explains why.
Most gambling games have a poor EV for you, and a confident EV (5.49% in cases like this) for the casino. In the short run you could win, but in the long term, if you played typical gambling games 1000 times, the casino would always end up winning by about 5.49%. As you can plainly see these kinds of gambling games come in favor of the house. Poker pits you against other players and not the house. In a full ring game (9 players) or shorthanded game (6 players), the goal is to make the very best EV decisions against the a great many other players playing worse (making -EV decisions) than you.
A simple example would be if you were dealt KK before the flop came (preflop), which everyone knows is a wonderful hand preflop. This hand has a high possiblity to win against all the hands preflop. If you played and raised “all in” with this hand against a player who played and called every all in, you would have an enormous advantage as you will be a favorite every time, rendering it a +EV decision. This is an exaggerated example and playing one hand would not be the smartest idea. What you would do is play say the top 20% of hands because against a person who plays maybe 70% of these hands, you again, will be making a +EV decision each and every time you play with him. It’s likely your starting hands will have a whole lot higher probability to win. That is just scraping the top, and there is an EV mounted on every decision and every situation. Many internet poker sites provide starting hand charts for beginners to use, which would function as simplest way to improve your EV.
In addition, there is always variance and in the short term weaker players could easily get lucky, but that’s also what attracts them to come back and keep playing. In the long run, a good player who always makes +EV decisions will always find yourself a winner. That is why poker isn’t gambling but a casino game of skill and understanding how to exploit your opponent’s mistakes.
Is it safe to play online poker?
Absolutely, some sites have over 50,000 people playing at once. Major sites like Full Tilt Poker run advertisements on it and the web and so are even listed on the stock market. They permit you to play poker online free of charge or real money. Any negative publicity would affect their business so these sites often supply the best customer service. Keeping your password secure can be your responsibility and if you do this, your money will be safe. Online poker sites have no incentive to cheat when dealing hands since they want to be extremely fair so you continue steadily to play, which allows them to earn their income by means of “rake.” This is usually a very small percent of the pot (usually significantly less than 1%). In poker, you’re playing contrary to the other players, and not the house.
Obviously if the poker site seems shady, you have never heard of it, they don’t advertise on TV or the net and there aren’t members playing regularly – you wouldn’t be depositing your money there!!! With idnplay said, the majority of the major poker sites have become safe and reputable.
What are the best online poker rooms?
You can find three major sites for playing internet poker. Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Party Poker have lots of traffic, play money tables, a lot of freeroll tournaments and have very good customer support. If you’re a beginner you should play at Full Tilt Poker or Pokerstars when you start. Other sites like Party Poker call you up once you sign up and require some type of id verification to activate your account. Some people may such as this extra security, and can certainly go that route. Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars usually do not require this. Overall, all three sites are incredibly safe and well known.
Many sites state “Deposit and get another $600!” Do they really double your deposit amount after depositing?
That depends on the website. Some sites provide you with a really small portion (around 10%) of one’s deposit instantly, but that’s rare. What typically happens is you deposit $600, and after you accumulate some player points, they will give you the full $600. This is to make sure depositing players are also active. With internet poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker these points are achieved very quickly.
Online sites will publish poker bonus codes which should be entered upon account creation. After that, the amount you earn depends on the time you spend playing and the stakes you play at. When a player reaches 400NL limit, this means 2 to 4 dollar blinds and have an excellent percent of wins, they are able to make up to 5K per month. This is of course in the event that you treat playing like a job and dedicate a long time each day to playing. Ultimately job freedom and the lure of easy money that’s only a click away, is what draws so many people to online poker.
